This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
This 2000 Sienna is a lemon. At 50 miles the torque converter needed to be replaced. At 100 miles I noticed that the van pulls to the left at highway speeds of 65 to 70 mph. At 28,000 miles the front tires Firestone were all chewed up belts showing even though we had 3 alignments done in less than a year. The automatic side passenger door got stuck and would not close, dealer replaced door computer, at 15,000miles paint was chipping off the door handles and a short time later paint was chipping off the front hood as well. At around 20K the remote key/alarm started blowing fuses, it's been back 4 time to get fixed w/ nothing done to fix it. This is the circut that has the alarm, clock and dome light. From the very begining the trans. Sometimes would shift either hard or w/ a dely between 1st & 2nd gear then at about 30,100 miles the clutch cable was replaced. A clunk now happens when going from park to reverse esp. When on a hill. It still does not shift from 1st to 2nd right all the time. The sun visor, when it's covering the left drivers side window, will move and hit the driver when making a left turn at anything over 5 mph. So now every time I make a left hand turn one hand is on the visor and the other on the wheel, when I blew one of the front tires the aaa serviceman couldn't crank the cable that holds the tire back under the van, dealer replaced cable and other parts. The radiocd player skips a lot when going over bumps, have been waiting almost 2 months for the replacment. Mind you we've only had this van less than 2 yrs!!! other stuff, battery was replace within a year, why I don't know, change door keeps popping open (drivers left side) weather stripping on drivers side at the bottom on the car (not door) is falling apart. Head lights are either not aimed right when in spec. Or bad design. I think this is due to the way the lights are shaped, there is very little light directly in front of you but plenty of light on the 2 sides of the road.
I bought this 2000 Sienna new. I have had three major problems in two years. The latest failure is on transmission. Toyota replaced it with a rebuilt and it is giving me all sorts of problems that Toyota is refusing to acknowledge and unwilling to replace the substandard transmission with a new part. The transmission is noisey. I have experienced slips in gears, hesitation in shifting, underpower when accelerating beyond 60-65 mph or driving on hills. I have difficulties changing in and out of fast lanes, it is dangeours and Toyota insisted that it meets the standard. The same arrogance that they have displayed when I presented them with the power door porblem. Now they revealed to me that they acknowledged the door problem but why aren't them issuing a recall. There was also problem with the antilock brakes. I nned you assistance to resolve my transmission problem as well as bring the safety issue on Sienna to the public awareness!
The right sliding door of the 2000 Sienna has a big problem with the lock. Most of the time, the inside lock gets stuck from the inside and there is no way that the passenger can get out that door. And it takes time before it gets fixed -- more often than not I have to contend myself moving the car without the benefit of the right side door slid closed, but not locked. This is not safe, especially for a parent like me with passenger kids. Also, the Sienna has been going back and forth to the Toyota service center for the "unusual noise" becoming apparent esp. When the car accelerates from 0-30 mph. I have reported the noise when I had my belts changed, transmission fluid flushed, and power steering belt replaced -- but the noise is still there after the service and after it costs me $400! then I brought the car back to the shop and after visually checking it, the service guy at Toyota of temecula valley said that my transmission is the problem and it has to be replaced for $3,500 + tax!! I asked how come - considering that the car observes the maintenance schedule rigidly, no rough driving, oils/filters changed regularly, fluids flushed-drained-refilled properly, etc. I even have a lifetime alignment that it gets regularly checked and brought back to specs. The service guy said that "it is a common problem with all Siennas" and it is no longer surprising for them. I checked on the reviews and feedbacks and to my surprise, other Sienna owners had their trannys replaced 2-3 times already, the van will emit the same noise even if it gets fixed, trannys act out even at 15,000 miles! my contention is that is the service shops of Toyota are already aware of that problem, how come it doesn't get recalled and let them fix the problem beforehand? I am a single parent and gets no child support from anybody -- and for a young car like mine in years and very well maintained and deal with a big tranny problem instantly requiring big cash, I find it unfair.
While on the freeway and without warning, the van suddenly stopped moving. It had to be towed to the dealer for repair. The transmission was replaced and the dealer provided exceptional service. My concern is that there is a problem with the design of the transmission itself which causes these failures. It is very dangerous as it disables the van without warning. We were very lucky that we were able to roll the van off to the side of the freeway before anyone got hurt.
While driving in interstate 15 at 70 mph, I suddenly lost speed and tachometer went up.the engine running but speed going down.I just use inertia to pull into the median. Dealer said they have to replace transmission.this is a serious safety problem, please act asap.
Told by Toyota that sludge in the engine is our fault despite regular oil changes. We don't have all our recepts but changed the oil at least 4 times since we owned the car. Impossible to believe that we were neglectful, especially when I am seeing so many other cases with the same thing happening. There needs to be an investigation here soon.
Transmission went out at 75 mph/tachometer went to zero, and engine kept running. Dealer informed consumer that she was # 49 on waiting list for a transmission which was on back order.
Complete and permanent transmission failure. Vehicle suddenly and permanently lost ability to accelerate/transmission disengaged while traveling on interstate at 65mph. Barely coasted to side of road while trying to avoid traffic bearing down on us (two adults and three small children). We have now discovered that this defect with Siennas, was known as early as June 2000. This defect usually causes complete transmission failure during sustained highway speeds. Toyota was negligent in not warning owners of this extremely hazardous defect. Our vehicle is now about 300 miles from our home, with no fix currently available from Toyota.
We wish to place this report as it is an unusual failure for this vehicle and the apparent back order of transmissions from Toyota shows failures must be overwhelming. It is a sudden failure and presents a tremendous danger to drivers. Ours failed while at high speed on the interstate. We were nearly rear ended and the crash would have been devasting. We certainly are interested in discovering how many other Sienna's or similarly equipped vehicles using the same transmission have failed.
Transmission failed while driving at 70 mph on Florida turnpike. The van had to be towed to bev smith Toyota in ft. Pierce where it remains today. We were told that the transmission are on back order in California which means they must come from Japan. In doing some research, I have found that several hundred Sienna owners have experienced the same problem. I was told that our replacement transmission will have a "fix" but no one will tell us what the problem was with the original transmission. In the meantime, we have incurred nearly $2,000 additional expenses to date, will be incurring additional expenses for renting a vehicle, have lost four days of work (three family members), and have no idea when our vehicle will be returned to us. It appears that Toyota motor sales is aware of problems with the 2000 Sienna transmissions, but isn't telling owners or potential buyers of the problem.
Toyota would not authorize rental of another minivan during two week repair. I drove four children in the backseat of a car. No safety defect listed in summary.
On the morning of Oct. 27, my wife drove the car to mid town, manhatton. She drove the car from a car park at 43 street. Suddenly she heard a slight sound and the car lost gear and slided to the middle of the street and dead off. She pressed the gas pedal, no reaction. She used bra and steering suddenly stopped working. That is a busy street, a car almost hit her. She put the car back to parking and restarted the car and drove away. She thought that happened because she forgot to start. ( she forgot she drove 10 feet from the car park). That was a busy day, she forgot telling me. On the afternoon of the same day. I drove the car to boston to see an customer. On the way back, I found there was a strange sound whenever I pressed the gas pedal it sounds like an old shabby car driven over 10 years. I stopped on the shouder and checked the tires and I could not found anything. I drove back to the high way I-91 South again, suddenly, I heard and strange sound, the car lost gear again, it became slowly and slowly. I pressed the gas peddle hardly and that was no use. I pressed the emmergency lights and change to the slow lane. A truck behind me reached me fast. My car forced his truck passed me over the shoulder because there happened to be a car in the middle lane. I was shocked to death. Without the truck driver's alert and skillful changing lane, I would definately a dead man. I stopped on the shoulder and tried all dears, none of them was working. I restarted the engineand no use. I called the aaa tow truck and I was towed back to fort lee New Jersey at 2:30 in the morning. Before this incidence, the left rear strut was leaking, they changed the left rear shock and we did a tune up and rotate and balance 10/01/2000. Both me and my wife risked our lives for Toyota's deffects cars. I would not want to risk my family lives to this car again. I strongly require Toyota recalls this car. I would rather buy an american car. If they do not allow us to return, change a new car.
Both problems/incidents of the automatic transmission and torque converter are tied together. The Toyota Sienna was less than a year old and had 9,900 miles on it. Cruising at 70mph the transmission disengaged and the engine raced to 7,000rpms. Pulling the Sienna over to the side of the road, the transmission would not engage in any of the forward or reverse gears. The Sienna had to be towed to dublin Toyota for warranty repair about 65 miles away. Dealer cannot tell me what failed, they were instructed to send parts intact back to the factory for post mortem diagnosis. I have opened a report with the Toyota customer assistance center on 8/31, #20000-8311289. Also have been speaking to the dublin Toyota customer relations manager, janet fraser about finding the cause of the problem and extending the warranty to these drive train components. It has been two weeks with no response.
Engine check light kept coming on continually, causing winding sound from transmission. Dealer notified, and infomed consumer that vehicle was safe to drive until part arrived. Feel free to provide any further details.
Toyota is unable to fix this problem as there are no parts available. There is an indication that Toyota knew about the problem as of 7/24/00 although we were not warned prior to purchasing our car. No safety defect listed.
As we were driving the vehicle at about 65 mi/hr the transmission failed with no warning. We were able to coast into a parking lot and drive another mile before the vehicle locked up and would not move. Dealer in san antonio replaced the transmission and torque converter. Repair took longer than expected due to torque converter being on back order.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Guilford, CT, USA